Open Wounds, Secret Obsessions

Linda Joyce Ott is a writer and a multidisciplinary artist – working in photography, painting, collage and assemblage. Linda lives in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada - halfway between Toronto and Niagara Falls - with her husband, Günter, and two cats, Scampi and Squeak.

Linda honed her creative writing over the course of a successful career as a writer, editor and communications consultant. She has an Hons BA in English from McMaster University. Mentored by the late Paul Quarrington, she earned a Certificate in Creative Writing from The Humber School for Writers. Linda also took part in a workshop with Isabel Huggan at The Humber School for Writers.

Linda has published four photo portfolios: "Hard Core: Hornby Island Rocks;" "Mexico Obscura;" "The Earth Laughs in Flowers;" and "Auto Parts."

Linda’s art and photos have been exhibited in solo and group shows in Hamilton, Toronto and Alberta, including Index G, the Toronto Outdoors Art Exhibition, Hugh’s Room and Visual Arts Ontario. Her photographs have been published in Art Focus, Photo Life, and Camera Canada magazines, and in The Hamilton Spectator.

Linda received Ontario Arts Council exhibition assistance grants for solo exhibitions at Gallery4, Hamilton Public Library: "All Dolled," her portraits of vintage mannequins (2015); "Urban Fresh," photographic impressions of the Steel City’s natural environment (2013); and "The Earth Laughs in Flowers" (2012). In 2011 "Auto Parts," her photo portfolio of details from classic cars, was nominated for a Hamilton Literary Award. In 2010 she was nominated for a Hamilton Tourism Award for her chrysanthemum photo calendar.

In 2010 Linda received an Ontario Arts Council International Residency Grant for a juried, month-long residency at the Vermont Studio Center. In 2007 she was juried into a two-week creative residency program at the Prairie North Creative Residency, Grand Prairie Regional College, in Alberta.

To see her art and photography, visit her website at www.lindajoyceott.com or her blog at www.optimismofcolor.com